The Moz Q&A Community

Hey friend! Have fun exploring Q&A, but in order to ask your own
questions, comment, or give thumbs up, you need to be logged in to your
Moz Pro account.
You can also earn access by receiving 500
MozPoints
from participating in YouMoz and the Moz Blog!

6 Responses

I've also had very good experiences with PR Web. I agree that going through Vocus can yield big discounts. Let's just call their pricing "flexible." Once you get an account exec on the phone, a world of possibilities opens that isn't apparent from the website.

But I agree some people have unrealistic expectations about what press releases can and cannot do -- in terms of both SEO and branding.

You hit the jackpot when major mainstream outlets -- or authoritative blogs -- write their own stories. I've gotten pick-ups from the Wall Street Journal, NBC, and the Columbia Journalism Review. Maybe it helps that I'm a former TV News Director whose clients include writers who can create great content that is then "promotable" in press releases.

Here are some examples of press releases that will go nowhere:

Joe Blow appointed VP of Widget Production

We're Having a 20% Off Sale Until Friday, So Buy Now!

We Re-launched Our Website And We Think Someone Cares

Version 3.17 of The Super-Duper, XML Rocket Fuel Suite of Enterprise MiddleWare CMS Plug-in Do-Hickey Has Been Officially Launched and It's Really Great, Because We Say So In Incomprehensible Business Speak and At Great Length

OTOH, I got great pick up from fitness sites and magazines for a gym client last week. In an update call, I asked the client how his new boot camp was going. He said great and mentioned a new member was a professional MMA fighter. I nearly fell out of my chair! That's a story: professional athlete works out alongside soccer Moms. I interviewed the athlete, wrote a story, and posted it to the client's blog and Facebook page. Other gym members responded saying they had no idea who "that nice guy" was. So I worked all this into a press release that got the great pick up.

But the whole project took many hours. I typically spend 3-10 hours on a release and follow up. The idea that you can toss off a press release in 15 minutes and expect to see big SEO benefits falls under the heading of "Ain't gonna happen," IMHO.

I have to agree with David Konisberg, that Press Releases are great for branding and might offer you some short term SEO benefit, but beyond that there's not much more it can do. If you have the money I highly suggest using PRWeb as your press release company. I've always been happy with their service and their high-ranking domain is always a plus. ;)

Hey friend! Have fun exploring Q&A, but in order to ask your own
questions, comment, or give thumbs up, you need to be logged in to your
Moz Pro account.
You can also earn access by receiving 500
MozPoints
from participating in YouMoz and the Moz Blog!
Learn more.